I might as well lump the other two uses of the Jazz mold here in one post.
Little motorcycle guy not included.
The first, Shattered Glass Treadshot, I talked about a little already when the toy was first revealed. He’s an homage to a 2004 Treadshot toy which was pitted against an Ultra Magnus toy. That Treadshot was a maroon redeco of Armada Sideswipe, and true to Shattered Glass’s oft-repeated theme of rivals in each other’s color schemes, this Treadshot is in Armada Sideswipe’s colors.
Let’s all take a moment to appreciate the fact that this BotCon toy is not only an Armada homage but, as he’s a Treadshot paired off against an Ultra Magnus, also an homage to a 2004 Universe box set. This is insane.
I like to think that this Treadshot IS that Treadshot, and that they are the same dude, and so I tried to find a way to get this Treadshot to interact with that Treadshot’s Mini-Con partner, Nightbeat. Treadshot has no Powerlinx connectors, and so I thought I was stuck with just balancing Nightbeat’s motorcyle mode on his back or something. But then I remembered Treadshot’s speakers combine with his rifle to make a larger gun, and thought I could do something with that. And I did. And it sort of works. I call it “The Chopper.”
This is not what he looks like in person.
Treadshot was in the preregistration box set, but the other use of the Jazz mold was one of the at-show toys. It was Kick-Off, and he’s an Action Master! BotCon has given us one Action Master recreation every year since 2009, and this is something I never complain about. And I certainly wouldn’t complain about Kick-Off! I mean, I don’t have a lot of feelings for Kick-Off in general, but this toy of him is amaaaaaazing. And also frustrating. Amazingly frustrating. Let me tell you why.
He has florescent orange. Or blacklight orange. Whatever you want to call it. That stripe that runs down the middle of his car mode is painted florescent orange. And it is SO FRICKING BEAUTIFUL. But it won’t photograph. I don’t think RGB can do florescent. And if it can, I sure can’t figure out how. This means when I try to share him with you via photography, he instead turns out looking kinda dreary. But it is FANTASTIC, YOU GUYS, BELIEVE ME.
The limitations of RGB imagery fill me with impotent rage.
His forearms and weapons are molded in a bright orange I like to call “Action Master orange.” Lots of Action Masters got stuff molded or painted in this color, like Optimus Prime’s detailing and weapons and Shockwave’s accent colors. It was the early 90s, after all. If my childhood nostalgia could be embodied in a specific color, Action Master orange would be it. And so with the florescent orange and the Action Master orange are coupled with black and white and a little red, it results in a crazy-awesome toy.
But one I can’t photograph accurately, god dammit.
I am sitting here all grrrrrrrrrr.
You going to put up pictures of the G1 toy variations too? I mean the new mold is nifty, but the original saw some of its own variance. Plus, I guess the Alternator mold.
Point is, Jazz has a ton of variants, not just in this mold. Heck, i mean the fandom thinks of Dinobot when it comes to recolors, but I wonder if Jazz might even predate the guy.
The original Jazz was himself, himself again (G2), himself in gold (eHobby), and Stepper. I have only two of those.
I personally think the G1 red stripe(with orange windows instead) would have made for a sharper looking car while offering a bit more congruity with his head’s red stripe. If I had to guess they did the trade-off due to his stomach winding up on the red sprue instead of orange. But hey, I’m not one to demand they slavishly adhere to G1 layout as long as they get the overall colors right; this dude still looks great he’s my must-have of this year’s lineup. Now hot pants Spinister I’m slightly less forgiving on, I think I may attempt a kitbash to fill that void.
Y’know I think I rescind my comment, the more I look at him the more I think breaking up all that orange that would have normally taken up the center of his body was a good thing.Though missing out on a car that could have been a Red Stripe beer endorsement is still a shame. =P
“If my childhood nostalgia could be embodied in a specific color, Action Master orange would be it.”
I wonder if you’re familiar with Gabe Swarr’s 80′s nostalgia comic “Life in the Analog Age”?
http://dummcomics.com/2012/04/03/reward/
I think my childhood nostalgia is a swirl of Turbomaster Pink and Predator Green, like a sickly raspberry ripple.
I saved Kick-Off for last and I’m glad I did, I LOVE HIM SO HARD!!! The colors are amazing and his head sculpt is bad a$$! I love the Jazz mold and while Treadshot looks super radical, nothing compares to black and florescent orange and especially not on a figure who has one of the best lines in all of IDW history – “DIE SLAG LICKER!!” YAY Kick-Off!